Catching Shadows
by momoxtoshiro
Summary: Little Momo and Toshiro are bored and telling jokes, which somehow leads to a random yet fun game of chasing and trying to catch their shadows.


**Here is another HitsuHina fic people! Again, not my best work, I just had a random idea and wrote about it because I know about it from experience XD Enjoy the randomness!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. D:**

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Catching Shadows

Sunlight beamed down into the trees where the green leaves cast their shadows down on the world below.

The grass and hills were dappled with warmth and the still, clear lake rippled slightly as a breeze blew across the surface of the sun-warmed waters. It reflected the different shades of green and jade from the trees above it, as well as the sky and the white, puffy clouds.

Momo and Toshiro were lying in the grass of the field in their backyard. The shade from the trees mixed with the sunlight and the wind made a wonderfully comfortable temperature for the two friends. They were dressed in their coolest attire, a light gray robe and a light brown kimono. The girl in brown sat up suddenly. "Oh! Oh! I got one!" She exclaimed, giving a little trill of excitement.

"Fine. Let's hear it, Bed-Wetter." The boy grumbled, looking up at her. They had been trying to think of jokes to tell because they were bored.

"Okay. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?" She asked.

"Oh, come on!" Toshiro snorted. "_Everyone _knows that! It's a towel." He answered unenthusiastically. Hearing that he already knew her joke, Momo's shoulders slumped a bit and she lay back down beside him. "That's just like another joke I heard once." Toshiro went on. "What gets bigger and bigger the more you take away from it?"

"A hole!" Momo responded almost instantly. He nodded, and knowing that she had got it correct made her feel a bit better.

She let her chestnut eyes wander about for a moment. She spotted a squirrel scampering up a tree and disappearing into the branches and she recalled another pun. "Alright how about this one. Where does an animal go when it loses its tail?"

Toshiro laughed a bit. "Nowhere. They can't get 'em back." He replied, bored.

"Nah-uh!" She protested. "Some lizards can grow them back!" She contradicted him with a little something his grandmother had told her once.

"So they grow them back?" Toshiro asked skeptically.

"No. We're not talking about lizards." Momo huffed.

"But lizards are still animals." He smirked, finding great amusement in confusing her like this.

"Shiro-chan! You're ruining the joke!" She complained.

"Fine." He chuckled. "Where do animals go when they lose their tails?" He gave in.

"To the re-tail store." She grinned. The white haired was silent for a moment.

"That's stupid." He grumbled.

"Okay then, Mr. Prodigy! Let's hear _your _joke!" She demanded.

"Alright." He smirked, already having a joke picked out. "If Thursday was today's yesterday and Sunday is tomorrow's tomorrow, then what's today?"

Momo stared at him. His smirk grew even wider.

When she was silent for a moment, Toshiro asked. "Well? Do you give up?"

"N-No! Wait! Let me think!" She stammered, flustered. She turned her gaze from the boy lying beside her to the clouds up above them. "A-Ano… T-Today is…yesterday's tomorrow? Wait what was it again? Tomorrow is today's yesterday?"

"No." He sighed. "Thursday is today's yesterday and-"

"And Sunday is tomorrow's tomorrow?"

"No." He grinned to himself. "Sunday is tomorrow's tomorrow."

"Oh." She nodded and went off pondering again. "…Hey, wait! That's what I said!" She turned back to him.

"Oh really?" He asked innocently. "I didn't notice."

"I'm so confused!" She moaned aloud, digging her nails into her hair in exasperation. Toshiro started laughing. "It's not funny!" She shoved his shoulder.

"Yes it is!" He guffawed. "You should see yourself!"

They tussled in a play fight for a few moments after that, and every time Momo pushed him, he would laugh even more. Then, he turned the tables and poked her side and she squeaked and rolled over in the grass, trying to escape him.

But then he just kept tickling her. She shrieked and squealed and thrashed and writhed like a mouse transfixed under a cat's claws. She tried to reach out and poke him back, but as soon as she moved her arm, she had to pull it back to hold her side to try and prevent him from tickling her again. She rolled over several times and laughed like she had never laughed before.

Soon, she only had enough breath left to giggle slightly and wheeze with a smile on her face. Finally, Toshiro stopped and lay back down besides her, grinning. Momo lay on her back, her hands resting limply on her stomach and sides and she panted uncontrollably. She was still giggling slightly between gasps, but after a few moments she calmed down. Tears were on the edges of her eyelids from laughing so much. Then, she rolled over and faced the aqua-eyed boy.

"So," She breathed heavily. "What was the answer to that question?"

"It's Friday, baka."

"Oh…" She trailed off, re-thinking the riddle. "But Shiro-chan, today is Tuesday."

Toshiro slapped his palm against his forehead.

They lay there together on the grass for a while now, watching the shifting patterns of sunlight shine through the trees, dappling the leaves and moss in different colors. Momo closed her eyes and drifted off into a light slumber, the wind ruffling her hair and pigtails. Toshiro gazed up at the sky and watched the clouds; trying to figure out the shapes they were forming.

Then, another riddle that his deceased grandfather had one told him came into his mind abruptly.

"Oy, Momo-chan." He shook her shoulder gently. She shifted slightly and blinked her eyes open sleepily.

"Mmm… Nani, Shiro-chan?" She asked quietly, stretching her arms up above her head.

"I got another riddle."

"Okay. What is it?" She turned towards him, ready for the challenge.

"I remember Ojii-san taught me this riddle." He cleared his throat. "**'**Only one color but not one size, stuck at the bottom yet easily flies, present in the sun, but never in the rain, doing no harm and feeling no pain." He smirked, knowing that she would never guess it.

Momo was deep in thought, wanting to get it right the first time. She did not respond for a long time, thinking through everything he had said. She tried to think of everything that was 'present in the sun, but never in the rain'. She pondered sunlight for the longest time, but somehow it did not seem right, and besides, it could cause harm to something that lived in the water like a fish or plant.

Frustrated, she tried to think of what felt no pain. She thought of rocks, clouds, and things like that, but there was something in the riddle that contradicted everything she thought of. Finally, it hit her like a wave smashing against the beach.

"A shadow!" She answered triumphantly.

"Wow! I can't believe you got it!" Toshiro's blue-green eyes widened in surprise. "Good job." Her smile beamed like the sun. They were both silent for a moment, until Momo perked up. "Neh, neh, Shiro-chan! Have you ever tried to catch your shadow before?"

"Nani?" He asked as though he had not been listening.

"Your shadow! Have you ever tried to catch it before?"

"Why? Have you?"

"I-I asked you first!" She blushed.

"Fine then. No I haven't. Have you?" He asked again.

"…Maybe…" She confessed.

"Just what do you mean by _catch_ your shadow anyway? That's impossible."

"I know you can't touch it," She defended herself. "I mean like…beat it." She clarified. He gave her a blank stare.

"So your telling me you want me to punch my shadow?"

"No!" She slapped her palm against her forehead. "I mean beat it to the ground! Get there first!"

"You can't do that!" He protested.

"Nothing's impossible."

"Your weird, you know that?"

Momo stretched out her hand and placed it on the ground in between them. Her shadow followed immediately and merged with her skin as soon as it touched the ground. She repeated this process a few more times, trying to touch the grass before the black copycat could, but she never succeeded.

"See? You can never beat your shadow. It's just not possible. Your shadow's always winning, because its already _on_ the ground." He told her.

She said nothing, but she smiled slightly, returning her gaze up to the light blue sky. Toshiro gave her a confused stare but said nothing. He watched her as her eyes flicked around, always keeping the sun in her sight.

Finally, the sun was directly above them for noontime.

Momo smiled and pushed herself up into a kneeling position. Toshiro sat up beside her.

Their shadows were gone.

Momo placed her finger on the ground, but no shadow followed. The seconds ticked by in silence, until finally noon passed and the shadows returned. A small sliver of black appeared under the girl's finger.

"Beat ya." Momo grinned, turning to look at Toshiro.

He blinked a few times at her before shaking his head.

"You are so weird."

"But I still beat my shadow. I caught it."

"You cheated!"

"Shiro-chan!" She shoved him and he shoved back.

They squabbled until Toshiro poked her in the side again. Instantly, Momo tried to get away from him, but he poked her again and she fell over laughing in the grass. He kept on tickling her without mercy until she had no more breath left in her entire body. Then they finally lay still next to each other, Momo's chest heaving as she fought for air.

"You can beat your shadow all you want," Toshiro smirked. "But you can never beat _me _in a tickle fight."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes.

Then she closed her eyes and curled up next to him.

He placed an arm around her shoulders with a slight blush.

And the two slept after their exhausting day of Catching Shadows.

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**A/N: Well in case you were wondering, yes, when I was little I did try to beat my shadow but I never thought to wait till noon passed. I just came up with that whole thing while I was writing it, I did not even intend to honestly. Heh. I should try it...**

**Anyways, again, I used their first names because they were little in this fic and I use their last names for when they are older. **

**I got most of these jokes from my friends when I was young XD And from the anime MoonPhase. **

**Please, please reivew!!**


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